Picking up where he left off last year, senior running back Dylan Oxsen managed to be a part of all five Plymouth South touchdowns in the first half Friday as the Panthers kicked off their season with a 40-14 victory over Atlantic Coast League rival Marshfield.

Oxsen was a Patriot Ledger All-Scholastic pick as a junior when he ran for 2,100 yards and scored an EMass-high 40 touchdowns.

“He had a first half that most people do not have maybe in a season,” Panthers coach Scott Fry said. “I cannot speak enough about Dylan and how hard he has worked. He deserves everything he is getting right now.”

Marshfield (0-1) started out strong when senior running back James Marzelli scored on a 5-yard TD run just 32 seconds into the game to make the score 6-0. A big play on the drive was a 41-yard pass from sophomore quarterback Jack Masterson to sophomore Jason Darcy.

After that it was pretty much all Oxsen and Plymouth South.

“It was a great game, we played good. A little bit scary coming off of their first touchdown,” said Oxsen, who rushed for 317 yards and five TDs in last year’s playoff loss to Natick. “But we answered right back. We came in here thinking that we were the best team and we knew that we were the best team and we came out like we thought we should.”

The Panthers rattled off 40 unanswered points – a blitz that started with Oxsen rushing in from 9 yards out with 6:30 left in the first quarter. Sophomore Andrew Shortall’s extra point gave the Panthers a 7-6 lead.

Later in the first quarter, Oxsen took a toss and hit sophomore running back Dylan Anti for a 59-yard touchdown on a halfback option pass. Shortall’s PAT made it 14-6.

Plymouth South’s Anthony Schena then blocked a punt that was recovered by fellow senior captain Shaun Duncombe at the Rams’ 13-yard line. The next play, Oxsen slammed it into the end zone. Shortall’s kick made it 21-6.

“We gave up a big play early,” said Fry. “I love the way our team responded after that.”

In the second quarter, the Panthers staged a four-play drive from their own 19-yard line, capped by Oxsen’s 63-yard scoring run on a third-and-long. The extra point extended the lead to 28-6.

Oxsen’s last TD came on a 70-yard interception return that extended the lead to 34-6. Shortall’s extra point was blocked.

“We take one game at a time and if we stay healthy, I like our chances in our league,” Fry said.

In the third quarter, senior quarterback Rick Barnhardt connected with Schena for a 31-yard touchdown pass. The extra point was missed, leaving the Panthers up, 40-6.

Page 2 of 2 - Marshfield kept battling in the fourth quarter. Sophomore quarterback Troy Rodrigues connected with sophomore Giovanni Luciani for a 60-yard pass that set up the Rams for a short TD run. Rodrigues hit sophomore Dan Dalton on the two-point conversion for the 40-14 final.

“They are a good team,” Oxsen said of Marshfield. “The ACL is looking tough this year, so this is just one of the ACL games. We need to go through the ACL just one step at a time.”